Senior Administrator Moment October '18: Creating Community

This installation of Senior Administrator Moment. comes from Dr. Sharon Y. Nickols.  Dr. Nickols is Dean and Professor Emerita of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Georgia, where she was the Jeanette M. Barber Distinguished Professor during the last five years of her tenure there. Dr. Nickols previously was the Director of the School of Human Resources and Family Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a participant in the Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration at Bryn Mawr College. She served as President of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences and has been a frequent site visitor for the FACS academic certification program.

Creating Community

Creating a community. During the 15 years that I served as Dean of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Georgia, creating a community was my philosophy for the interactions and relationships among the academic departments and the various support units of the College. Of course this could only be achieved through the “buy-in” of those who occupied the positions of associate deans, department heads, directors, and office managers who set the tone for the human relationships within their units, and collectively for the College overall. Ultimately the goal was to be a place where students, faculty, and staff all felt that they were respected and valued.

Was this idealistic? Yes. Did we achieve a harmonious community 100% of the time? Of course not. But we did quite well, and the College of Family and Consumer Sciences continues to have the reputation of a great place to work and to earn college degrees. From my perspective as a retiree, I’ve accepted the invitation to reflect on the dynamics of student affairs personnel, faculty, and administrators’ roles and relationships.

The FACS Administrative Cabinet. Institutions of higher education are complex organizations comprised of numerous administrative units. I became Dean of our College in 1991. My predecessor had served as Dean for 20 years. She was respected and effective, described by one of her contemporaries as a leader who was “firm in her resolve.” Perceiving that there was a need for greater administrative collaboration inclusive of the College’s support units (e.g., Office of Student Services, Communications, Development), I created the Administrative Cabinet, thus expanding a group that had previously included only the department heads. The purpose of the Administrative Cabinet was to foster communications, review policies, generate creative initiatives, and promote teamwork.

Monthly meetings provided the formal structure for the Administrative Cabinet, but the most enjoyable team-building activity was an annual day-and-a-half retreat. The venue was a heritage lodge in the North Georgia mountains. In addition to brief statements by directors, heads, and associate deans about plans for their units, fun, team-building activities were included. For example, the transition from the building where our meetings and activities were held to the dining room was an outdoors blindfolded “trust walk” led by an Associate Dean. This involved lots of requests to halt, nervous laughter, and questions, such as “Do you know where you’re going?” The bandanas used as the blindfolds became a “badge of trust” keepsake.

For another activity each participant brought an item that symbolized their role as a leader in the College and shared what the item embodied. My item was a small cloth figure wearing a garment of patchwork cloth and holding a spool of thread. I described her as a “fairy godmother,” or maybe she was my alter ego. She had a satisfied smile that indicated she was pleased with what was being accomplished—credit due to the colleagues with whom she was associated, represented by the various pieces of the patchwork fabric. I keep her on top of the file cabinet next to my desk here at home.

Creating a community within smaller academic units such as Academic Affairs does not necessarily involve a retreat. It can be accomplished through an occasional “staff night out” where enough time is allowed for exploration of new ideas, sharing successful strategies, and/or stress relief. The occasional brown bag lunch, or catered lunch, with a notice on the door that a team-building activity is in session, can serve as a reminder to other units--and to students--that investing in staff development is important and valued.

Personal Demands, Shared Leadership. The demands for faculty performance ratcheted upwards over the 40 years I was in higher education. Whereas my generation of newly-minted Ph.D.s had the cushion of a year to prepare a manuscript for submission to a professional journal, today’s assistant professor candidates are expected to have one or more articles already in print. Teaching loads may be negotiated as part of the hiring process, but faculty quickly find themselves serving on departmental committees, supervising several students’ independent study projects, and filling roles in their professional associations and the university community. The demands on faculty time do not diminish as they progress through the academic ranks.

Faculty and staff members also have personal lives that usually have their own demands. My husband and I have four children, all grown now with their own families. In the early 1970s we were among the “pioneers” of the dual-career family model. Families have become increasingly diverse over the past four decades. Taking time to share glimpses from our personal lives with co-workers—staff and faculty—can create a climate of understanding and community. Asking about a personal picture on someone’s desk may lead to insights about the demands of life away from work and to stronger relationships on the job. The network of people at work often becomes a resource in times of stress or crisis, especially for those whose kinship network is frayed or faraway.

One of the books that I have found most insightful regarding leadership is The Leadership Challenge: How to Keep Getting Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations by James Kouzes and Barry Posner. Chapter 8 is titled “Strengthening Others: Sharing Power and Information.” Although the book is targeted to people in leadership roles, it provides many insights for how all personnel influence a unit’s performance. Kouzes and Posner say, “…exemplary leaders make other people feel strong. They enable others to take ownership of and responsibility for their group’s success” (p. 181). The constituents of higher education in the United States are increasingly diverse. In some situations, this has created both a leadership and a “follower-ship” challenge. Yet, this diversity provides opportunities for a variety of cultural experiences, which designed as team-building experiences, fosters personal growth and unit performance.

Personnel in the Academic Affairs or Student Services units of higher education have opportunities to strengthen their departments, colleges, and schools. The quality of interaction between the designated director and the personnel of an academic affairs unit, and their engagement with the faculty and students can create friction and indifference, or it can empower everyone.

Empowering others and creating community. Isn’t that what higher education is all about?

Reference:  Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (1995). The Leadership Challenge: How to Keep Getting Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Commission on Academic Affairs or ACPA. Comments or questions should be addressed to Lynn Hogan (lhogan@fsu.edu), Commission on Academic Affairs Faculty in Residence.

If there is a seasoned administrator you would like to hear from, please send contact information to Lynn Hogan at lhogan@fsu.edu and we will do our best to woo them to write.

Lynn Hogan
Faculty in Residence
Commission on Academic Affairs